Common Vision Disorders

Harvard Eye Associates — 30 Years
of Eye Surgery Experience!

Overview:

The
eye focuses by bending incoming light rays to meet at a single
point. Ideally this single point lands directly on the fovea, the central point
of the retina. If the light rays reach this perfect placement, you experience
clear, sharp images.

However, if the focal point is behind the retina or in
front of the retina, the image on the retina will not be fully formed and will
be interpreted by your brain as blurred. This is very much like focusing a
projector onto a blank movie screen. If the projection is too close or too
far from the screen, the images are blurred. Set at the correct distance, you
may enjoy the show!

When you have an eye examination at Harvard Eye Associates, your eye doctor will determine whether you are nearsighted, farsighted, astigmatic, and/or presbyopic by measuring where your eye focuses light.
Depending on your refraction, your eye doctor will discuss
different treatment options with you.

Nearsightedness (myopia):

Nearsighted individuals typically have problems seeing well at a distance and are forced to wear glasses or contact lenses. The nearsighted eye is usually longer than a normal eye, and its cornea may also be steeper. Therefore, when light passes through the cornea and lens, it is focused in front of the retina. This will make distant images appear blurred. There are several refractive surgery solutions available to correct nearly all levels of nearsightedness.

Farsightedness (hyperopia):

Farsighted individuals typically develop problems reading up close before the age of 40. The farsighted eye is usually slightly shorter than a normal eye and may have a flatter cornea. Thus, the light of distant objects focuses behind the retina unless the natural lens can compensate fully. Near objects require even greater focusing power to be seen clearly and therefore, blur more easily. LASIK, Refractive Lens Exchange and Contact lenses are a few of the options available to correct farsightedness.

Astigmatism:

Asymmetric steepening of the cornea or natural lens causes light to be focused unevenly, which is the main optical problem in astigmatism. To individuals with uncorrected astigmatism, images may look blurry or shadowed. Astigmatism can accompany any form of refractive error and is very common. Astigmatism can be corrected with glasses, contact lenses, corneal relaxing incisions, laser vision correction, and special implant lenses.

Presbyopia:

Presbyopia is a condition that typically becomes noticeable for most people around age 45. In children and young adults, the lens inside the eye can easily focus on distant and near objects. With age, the lens loses its ability to focus adequately.

Although presbyopia is not completely understood, it is thought that the lens and its supporting structures lose the ability to make the lens longer during close vision effort. To compensate, affected individuals usually find that holding reading material further away makes the image clearer. Ultimately, aids such as reading glasses are typically needed by the mid-forties. Besides glasses, presbyopia can be dealt with in a number of ways. Options include: monovision and multifocal contact lenses, monovision laser vision correction, and new presbyopia correcting implant lenses.

Our Promise

As always, Harvard Eye is first and foremost concerned about
what is best for each individual patient. Call us today for
your personalized consultation!

The eye doctors of Harvard Eye Associates perform advanced
technology diagnostic testing and treatment, as well as taking
the time necessary to provide each patient with information needed
to fully understand his or her condition and to achieve the best possible
visual outcome.

If you or a family member
or friend have not had a recent routine eye examination, have a specific eye condition that needs addressing, or are looking for
an eye specialist, second opinion, or professional eye consultant please take a moment to Request an Appointment.

Internationally regarded as the go-to
specialist in eye care, Harvard Eye
offers a combined experience of over
100 years and over 100,000 surgical
procedures. The doctors of Harvard
Eye Associates have treated virtually
every known eye condition there is,
plus a few previously unknown.

Volunteer work is extremely important
to Harvard Eye Associates. Twice
yearly, we travel the world to teach
and perform surgery to people who
have no other resources, and have
raised hundreds of thousands of
dollars to providing medical training
and supplies to developing countries.

The material contained on this site is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health care provider.